Flexible button



NOV. 7, 1939- L.. R. cARLEY ET A1.

FLEXIBLE BUTTON Filed June 8, 1937 Leonard R. C'ajlewy,

a w. C @M w@ m Patented Nov. 7, 1939 nach f FLEXIBLE -nU'r'roNijl f Leonard R. Carley, Watertown, and Forrest G. v Purinton, Waterbury, Conn., 4as signors to;- 'Ehe Patent Button Company, Waterliuiy`,' Conn;,'a corporation of Connecticut Application June s, 1937, .serial No. 147.124 y 4 claims. (o1. z4`951),VV

ture, thereby providing a saving of material and parts.

Still another object of the invention is to provide what we term a combined eyelet and anchor, wherein the anchor will have a relatively long neck or throat for guiding the tack during its entrance up into the eyelet and anchor'. f

As is well known to those skilled in the art, tack buttons are secured to garments by an attaching machine, that is, the button heads are placed in one hopper and the tacks in another and these parts fed down to the table of the attaching machine. The tack, when in registry with the button head, is forced upwardly through the cloth into the button head, where it is there deformed to complete the attaching operation.

Another object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a flexible type button having a combined eyelet and anchor to'receive the tack and wherein the button head may tilt or rock slightly after the same is attached to thus make for ease of placing the same through a. buttonhole or loop.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a flexible type 0f tack button comprising but relatively few parts and easily assembled.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in certain new and novel features and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully explained and pointed out in the claims.

Referring now to the drawing showing a preferred embodiment,

Fig. l is an enlarged sectional view showing the tack as having been driven through the cloth up into the eyelet and there deformed;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l., looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. i is an enlarged detail View of the combined anchor and eyelet.

Referring now more specifically' to the several views, and for the moment to Fig. l, there is shown the shell or button back i having the downwardly extending hub 2, the outwardly flared body portions, and lmeupwardly flared rim 4. 'l

The bottom fof the hub is perforated, as at 5, while the' vwalls 6 about the Aperforation 'are bent upwardly and inwardly, and preferably formed in the shape of a triangle, -as maybe seen in Figs. t 2 and 3; f JTo provide the desired resiliency to these walls, they may be split, as at l, as in the opening 5 is tobe driven the upper end of the combined eyeletgand anchor now to be described.

This anchor i'spreferably made of arelatively thick gauge metal' 'and has thehollow shank or throat 9, the dome Eiland the base Il. It will be noticedl that the outside diameter or" the throat is less thanwthe diameter of the dome-shaped@ head vv"i0, andk this may be obtained by rolling or necking the 'throat to leave the under surface of the head, as"atfl2,` projecting beyond the outer surface ofthe walls of the throat.

Of course, rather than formingv the eyelet and 20 anchor in this manner, that is, necking in the throat, it might be made of thinner material and formed to the shape as shown. In either event, this combined eyelet and anchor should have the head projecting out beyond the vertical walls 25 of the throat. w v- Also the diameter of the head lil is slightly greater than 'the diameter ofthe opening t in the hub, so the head may Spread the resilient walls 6 when forced into thevopening 5. How- 30 ever, the outside diameter of the throat of the eyelet is slightly less than thev diameter of the opening 5 in. the hub of the button head.

To assemble the button, this combined anchor and eyelet 8 is forced under pressure into the 35 opening 5 of the button head, forcing the split walls 6 outwardly until the head passes beyond the said walls when they will again spring back into place and engage the under surface of the head l2, as may be seen in Fig. 1. 40

By forming the eyelet and-button head in this manner, the .eyelet will always remain within the button head, regardless of the strain put on the button when attached to the garment.

In Fig. Lthere will also be noticed a cap i3, 45 which may have any desired indicia thereon, While placed beneath the cap and resting on the portion 3 of the button head is the anvil itil It will be noticed that there is a slight space between the top of the head l@ of the eyelet and anchor 50 andthe bottom surface of the anvilll, so that the button head may move slightly with respect to the eyelet. However, during the attaching operation, the top of the dome will be backed up by thevanvil Hl. Also,v it will be seen that the 55 eyelet to the cloth, the eyelet, it being remem= bered, having been previously exibly mounted within the hub of the button head.

It will be understood that although we have shown an anvil I4 and the cap I3, itmight be desirable in some instances to manufacture a very inexpensive button and the cap and anvil.

might be dispensed with.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that we have produced a exible type tack button, wherein the eyelet and anchor will assist in holding the tack in its registering position when entering the eyelet, preparatory to being deformed, and wherein the eyelet and anchor may be readily sprung within the head, and after once being inserted, cannot be removed.

It will also be seen that there are but relatively few parts, thereby making a button that is inexpensive to manufacture.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1s:

1. A flexible type tack button consisting of a button head having a hub, the bottom wall of the .hub being perforate, upwardly, and inwardly inclined slit walls extending above the perforated bottom wall, a hollow closed-top eyelet having a flared bottom together with a shank and an enlarged head, the outside diameter of the shank being less than the diameter of the opening in the bottom wall of the hub of the button head, the diameter of the head, however, being greater than the distance between the aforementioned walls to thereby retain the eyelet in a slidable but nonremovable manner, the eyelet adapted to also receive and deform the prong of a tack during an attaching operation.

2. A flexible type tack button including a button head having a hub, the said hub being perforated in its bottom, walls about the perforation extending upwardly and inwardly of the hub and arranged in triangular formation, the walls having slits at the angles to thereby form a exible restricted entrance orifice, a cooperating eyelet having a neck substantially equal in size to that of said entrance orifice, and a head of such relative form and dimensions as to be capable of being forced through said entrance orifice and be retained by said slitted walls, the said eyelet being closed at its top and adapted to receive and deform a tack during an attaching operation.

3. A flexible type tack button including a button shell having a perforate hub, walls extending about the perforation upwardly and inwardly of the hub and said walls being slitted to provide a resiliency thereto, a cooperating anchor and eyelet having a throat substantially equal in size to that of the entrance orifice, and a head of such relative form and dimensions as to be capable of being forced through said entrance orifice and firmly held against removal by said walls and permitting the head to tilt with respect to said eyelet, the eyelet being closed atits top and adapted to deform the prong of a tack during the attaching operation.

4. A button of the flexible type including a button back, a cap, an anvil within the button and held in position by said cap, a hollow eyelet having a shank enlarged at one yend and flared at its opposite end, the said eyelet being closed at its enlarged end, the button back having a perforate hub, walls within the hub engaging with the enlarged head of said eyelet and holding said eyelet against removal, the head of the eyelet normally being spaced from the anvil to thereby permit a slight Vertical movement of the head with respect to the eyelet, and the eyelet adapted to receive and the closed end deform the prong of a tack during an attaching operation to thereby hold the button in an attached position.

LEONARD R. CARLEY. FORREST G. PURINTON. 

